Two Heads are Better Than One (Until You Have None)
by TheQueen117
Summary: When Sasuke falls asleep on the subway, he wakes up to find himself underground with the scariest man alive and a much angrier, sadder (broken) version of himself. Now desperate to uncover the truth of this world in an attempt to return home, Sasuke doesn't imagine it can get any worse. And then he meets Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

...

 **Two Heads Are Better Than One (Until You Have None)**

...

Chapter 1

...

When Sasuke first wakes up on the thin mattress in the dark, dungeon-esque hole in the ground he's been taken to, he is fairly certain he is going to die. That obviously he's been kidnapped somehow after foolishly falling asleep on the subway after a series of late night shifts at the bakery job he took up after classes and he is going to have all his organs removed before they chop him into tiny little pieces for the fishes.

And then he meets Orochimaru. Just the sight of the other man with his oddly pale skin, in-human yellow eyes, and freakishly tongue is enough to make Sasuke scream, high and piercing so it echos through the stone room. Orochimaru stretches his mouth into something that might have been a smile once and told someone Sasuke cannot see, "I like this one."

So his time in this world begins. He's still not entirely sure why Orochimaru doesn't kill him off in the beginning (something that seems highly probable and expected of the snake man) and instead chooses to train him. While Uchiha seems to know something Sasuke is more likely to get answers out of a particularly chatty rock.

(Actually…a talking rock probably wouldn't surprise him at this point. Talking animals, the ability to destroy mountains, breath fire, move faster than a car, and survive a variety of injuries that would leave any normal person dead or at least paralyzed; Sasuke figures he could just about handle anything at this point.)

At first he refuses. How could they ask him to kill anything, let alone a person? He's a vegetarian for Christ sake! His father once took him hunting and he threw up out of nerves when he's told to shoot (Itachi took the shot, of course.) At first Orochimaru tries to starve him into compliance—a usual tactic apparently—but Sasuke is an Uchiha. Uchiha's don't fold to something as simple as hunger (or fear) no matter how hungry he is. (And if he has to remind himself almost constantly of that fact as the days drag on and on and on in that awful, dank cell they've thrown him into, then that is okay. Even Itachi would have struggled here.) After a week they ask again and he grits his teeth and refuses out of the pure willpower and spite.

Then Kabuto steps in.

There is something wrong with the man. Sasuke is certain it is something in his smile, how it just seems a little…off. Not to mention his aura that stuck to anything and everything like slime. Not even Orochimaru's aura—sickly, festering, and…dying as it is—is as disturbing as Kabuto's. But still, Kabuto brings food and Sasuke is almost certain if Kabuto wanted to kill him, he'd kill him whether Sasuke ate the food or not.

So as he eats and Kabuto tries to use reason. "Even if you manage to leave, how will you survive? Missing-nin and thieves litter the country side," Kabuto states, "How do you expect to protect yourself without the ability to defend yourself?"

Sasuke laughs, "We both know that isn't why Orochimaru wants me to learn." He's heard the screams at night (or what passes for night down here). Orochimaru wants him for something. Doing what he wants couldn't lead to anything good.

Kabuto seems amused, but Sasuke can't tell for sure. And he is certain of all the people he has met in this world, Kabuto is the most dangerous for all that he plays subservient. "That doesn't change the fact that you're helpless like this. What are you going to do when Orochimaru-sama no longer finds you interesting?"

Sasuke shrugs, "I'll cross that bridge when I need to."

After he leaves, Sasuke spends twelve hours trying to remove the gunky-aura from his clothes. It doesn't work.

...

At some point, they start feeding him. Small amounts. Light soups and something like oatmeal. He doesn't know why. Nothing changes as far as he knows. Orochimaru is still terrifying. Kabuto is still disgusting. Sasuke hasn't given an inch. And then he met Uchiha. It is like looking at a mirror. A blood covered, rather terrifying mirror with blood red eyes instead of the steady black and short, wild hair where Sasuke has chosen to wear his long like most of his cousins. But the face is the same. The same nose and jaw that he takes from his mother. The same thin lips from his father. And the same confidence and posture that has carried Sasuke through life—self assured, confidence bordering on arrogant.

Uchiha glares.

"Yo," Sasuke smiles, waves, and refuses to take the bait after a few minutes of tense silence.

His counterpart glares harder. But his aura remains warm, reaching out to him like a small child would reach out to something shiny: cautious and curious. When Sasuke starts seeing the strange clouds that surrounds the people in this world, he simply assumes he's hallucinating, gone mad from either the hunger or the lack of sunlight. But then he learns he can touch them, change them, pull and tug until a small piece sits in his hand.

The first time he did this Orochimaru slapped him hard enough to throw him against the wall, the pain more paralyzing thanks to the shock of being hit than the effect (he'd felt that later). "What did you do?" he'd hissed, stepping into Sasuke's personal space.

Sasuke couldn't breathe. He could barely move. The fear he'd felt in that moment had kept him pressed up against the wall, the stone cool against his smarting cheek and the grit against his knees grounding enough. He'd held out his hand, the ball of cool grey and green aura sitting in his open palm. "I…I was just…."

Orochimaru looked at his open hand and then at him, eye's narrowed. "Explain."

And so Sasuke does because what else could he do. Uchiha later tell him he shouldn't have, but at the time he hadn't known better. The more he talked, the less angry Orochimaru became until his aura had settled around Sasuke like a fog.

"Fascinating," Orochimaru grinned and it is more terrifying than his smile.

Sasuke doesn't remember what happened next. And he thinks that's for the best. When he wakes, it is on a hospital bed with a series of tubes and machines hooked into his arms and chest. It is then that Orochimaru first asks him to train. Sasuke refuses.

And now here they are.

"So why you in here?" Sasuke asks, reaching out his own hand to poke at the first warm aura he has felt in this world. It wavers and his counterpart takes an audible breath. "Hard drug use, debt, or I'm actually as psychopathic as the Kabuto in this world?"

His counterpart hums softly and unlocks the door. There is a series of keys hanging from his waist. Jailer, Sasuke thinks. And frowns, his counterpart works here, has power ?

Sasuke shakes the chains around his wrist pointedly. Uchiha unlocks them, takes his wrist and pulls him out of the cage without saying a word.

"Are we leaving?" Sasuke has to ask. Because he doesn't want to believe that a version of himself could do what the snake man asks him to. Kill or be killed, Kabuto warned him. Sasuke has chosen to be killed, it seems. Not because he is a martyr but because he knows he has no other choice. Murder…murder is not something he can even consider.

Figures it wouldn't be the same in this world. "No," his counterpart says, looking at him. His eyes are still red. But now Sasuke can make out the strange comma-shaped pupils that dominat the red.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asks again after several moments of silence as they glided from one hallway to another until they find themselves in front of a door. The same symbol on his counterpart's shirt is engraved into the door. When it opens, Sasuke isn't surprised to see a bedroom.

His counterpart pauses before turning around to finally look him in the eyes. The commas seem to be spinning, "Is your family alive?"

Sasuke narrows his eyes, "Is that a threat?"

Uchiha shakes his head and smirks as if he is amused. But his aura takes on a distinct blue shade that Sasuke has come to connect with grief. "Mine isn't."

And then the world fades away.

...

When he wakes up, he is crying. It takes all his energy—what little he has—to turn himself over the edge of the bed so he can throw up without fear of drowning. When he is done, he feels the bed dip and a pair of warm hands move him as if he is no heavier than a rag doll. "Why?" Sasuke cries recognizing that warm, white aura (Chakra, Orochimaru has insisted.) "I didn't…"

Uchiha runs a cool cloth over his forehead and takes a moment to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "You asked why," Uchiha says as if it is the simplest thing in the world. As if he hasn't forced Sasuke to witness the murder of his entire family. Massacre, his mind supplies and Sasuke sobs, thick and heavy. Wiped out. The last ones, Sasuke thinks. And yes, Sasuke can see why he is here running from it all, searching for power to make sure it can never, ever happen again. The last ones, he thinks and it feels like shackles.

But…no…not the last ones. And he remembers the grief on his precious brother's face before he cuts their mother down and cries even harder. When he is calm enough and Uchiha has helped him sit up, he refuses, "Itachi would never do that."

Uchiha breathes hard, his knuckles are paper white where he grips Sasuke's arms. "I showed you."

"I know," Sasuke says, "But Itachi…we know Itachi," Sasuke swallows hard, "You really think Itachi managed to do all that? Our Itachi?! Overbaring, overprotective. Cold and an asshole sometimes. But not…" He breaths deep, "We know better."

Uchiha looks away, "We turned out different in this world."

"Not that differently," Sasuke insists, "It can't… He's Itachi…." And he thinks about the tears he'd seen in Itachi's eyes, the tears this Sasuke must have seen, "He was crying."

"So he's not heartless," Uchiha says after a moment. "But it is his sword, his hands."

"You really think it's that simple?" Sasuke asks.

Uchiha looks away and slowly shakes his head. "But what else can I think?" And there is grief in his voice. His chakra sinks pulls in tight, wrapping around him like a cocoon.

"Do you know why?" Sasuke asks and he thinks about Itachi asking them to hate him and it doesn't fit. It doesn't work. When Uchiha says nothing, Sasuke pushes, "Have you tired asking him?"

...

Two days later, he is moved to his own room, is given a bath and told by a man who seems to melt out of the wall that he will be eating dinner with the lord of the house from now on. Sasuke just wants to sleep. But it is rare if what he wants matters these days.

It becomes normal after that to have dinner with Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Uchiha after a day of being locked up in his room. He doesn't know what they want. He doesn't really care. He spends most days listless, others dedicated to combing through the variety of memories Uchiha has left him looking for clues. Not Itachi, he thinks because he has to. Because he knows his brother, his Aniki (who always, always takes the shot whenever they go hunting and that thought alone sends Sasuke to the bathroom to throw up what little he'd eaten that day) and he knows just as he knows that somewhere out there the sun is rising and setting even though he cannot see it (might never see it again at this rate) that his brother could never have done what he Uchiha insists he did. Not if he had another choice. There must be a reason.

And then one day Sasuke wakes up and knows he has to find answers. Knows he can't continue like this, rotting away in this pit. Knows he has to save his counterpart from doing something unthinkable before it is too late.

(Fratricide, his mind whispers and Sasuke shivers.)

He thinks about everything he has learned about this world in the time he has spent here (and how long has it been, how many days? And he doesn't think about his family waiting for him to call because he promised his mother he would when he got home from work. He doesn't.) That dinner he says "I accept." At the confusion, he explains, "I accept your offer for…training." Orochimaru looks like he has won some sort of game. Kabuto smiles. Uchiha looks away. And Sasuke knows he has just about signed away his soul and can't bring himself to regret it.

Not yet.

...

Watching others spar reminded Sasuke how wrong this world is. Blades clashed and he learns not to flinch. Days when he is tired enough not to think by the time he crawls back to his room become a blessing. Screams of war become as normal as screams of excitement. Joy as common as rage.

Time becomes even more meaningless.

Uchiha corners him at some point, asks him why he is doing this and Sasuke smiles. "For you, of course." As if there could by any other answer. He has a purpose now. To find answers, to save Uchiha. Maybe that is why he has been dragged into this world. He hopes it is. And he doesn't think about his own family probably wondering where he is, worrying because in that world they are alive enough to worry.

Uchiha doesn't seem to like that answer. But that is okay. From what Sasuke has observed there isn't much Uchiha seemed to enjoy other than fighting.

The first time he gets to see the sun it is because he manages to land a hit on Kabuto. He is shocked enough not to block or dodge when Kabuto hits back. He ends up in the hospital, Kabuto as his doctor, Uchiha acting as his nurse until he tells the other to go to bed. They share. It's not odd for them to share a bed these days. Sasuke thinks Uchiha misses human contact. No… Sasuke knows he does.

The sun burns his eyes at first. But the feeling of the wind and heat on his skin is more than worth it. The visit only lasts a few minutes and the whole time Kabuto is staring at him, expecting…something. But Sasuke just curls up in a particularly nice patch of sunlight and refuses to move until he is told to.

After that Orochimaru returns from wherever he went and they start teaching him about auras—Chakra, Kabuto corrects and Sasuke shrugs. Uchiha usually sits in on these lessons, keeping a careful watch and stepping in at times when one of Orochimaru's scientists get a little too excited. The theory is fascinating in the way it seems more like magic than science, but Sasuke supposes in this fantastical world that would only be normal.

When he learns that touching chakra is akin to touching a soul, he tries not to blush. When he learned that snatching away a portion is akin to stealing away life, he is horrified. "I'm sorry," he tells Orochimaru because even now he doesn't want to kill even as he is trained to do so. And he thinks this world is too easy to die in.

Later that day, Uchiha askes Sasuke to tell him what he sees and Sasuke says white and warm and kind and Uchiha avoids him for three days. When he comes back, he spends the night in Sasuke's bed and his chakra settles over Sasuke like a hug.

...

The next time they go outside it's because there are invaders. Sasuke and Uchiha are not allowed to engage. They are not told who is invading but Uchiha says "Konoha" with a sort of longing and hatred that makes Sasuke want to cry. But that is nothing new. He is often close to tears these days.

"Why can't we go home?" Sasuke asks.

Uchiha sighs and pulls Sasuke in for a hug. His chakra pulses and Sasuke is reminded hauntingly of his own brother. He still doesn't know what goes on his counterpart's head for all that they're the same person but he's sure Uchiha cares for him just as he cares for Uchiha. "I can't get strong enough there," Uchiha tries to explain.

And Sasuke understands. Here even he has become strong. Strong enough to kill, to hurt. But not strong enough to protect and Sasuke says as much.

"I don't want to protect," Uchiha insists but Sasuke knows better. He has read his soul. "I am here to avenge."

"That's not true," Sasuke says. Around them are sounds of war, of blade against blade and screams of pain. He tries not to flinch.

So Uchiha tries, "If I return, they'll throw me in jail."

"They wouldn't be here if that is true," Sasuke says. And then he tries, "We can't find answers here."

Uchiha doesn't respond for a moment. There are chakra singles coming closer to their hiding space and Kabuto is looking at them from a safe distance away. His chakra still oozes but it no longer disgusts Sasuke in the same way. Now it just makes him pity. He wonders if Kabuto has ever cared for anyone but himself. Even Orochimaru…he sees the way the man's chakra has warmed. He cares for Sasuke in a strange, possessive way. He cares for Uchiha even more. And Sasuke wonders if even the snake man can be saved. He adds them to the growing list.

"What do you want to do?" Uchiha asks.

Sasuke looks away and towards the approaching chakra singles. They're engaged with oto-nin at the moment, flaring and dimming as they fights. He thinks he might have a plan. "Let me go."

Uchiha does not look surprised, "You think Orochimaru will just let you go?"

"He will if he's busy chasing you," Sasuke insists.

"No one will believe you're me," Uchiha says and Sasuke shrugs.

"They'll believe what they believe and I'll look for answers as I can." Sasuke insists. At some point they have turned fifteen, Sasuke thinks. They're fifteen and a war is being fought for them. Uchiha has grown out his hair so it sits at the same length as Sasuke's and it is like looking at a very sad reflection. A chakra signal flares and fades. "People are dying," Sasuke says and he doesn't know why he feels so numb.

"Do you trust me?" Sasuke presses and Uchiha nods without delay. They are the same and yet they are different. Sasuke has become stronger here. But now he needs to become strong enough to protect Uchiha and Itachi. "Then run. Let Orochimaru chase you. Look for your brother because we have questions that need answering and let me go to Konoha to look for clues.

Uchiha does not answer. But his sharigan bleeds into reality and Sasuke steps away. "Take care of yourself," Sasuke says.

Uchiha turns to Kabuto and draws his sword. "Worry about yourself," he smirks and Kabuto doesn't even have the decency to look surprised.

As their blades crash, Sasuke runs away.

...

Sasuke finds a Konoha-nin and saves their life. He doesn't kill, of course not. But he knocks out the oto-nins and helps the Konoha-nin to his feet. He has white hair and Sasuke thinks, stress. This world is stressful enough after all.

"Sasuke," they say and Sasuke nods.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asks.

The konoha-nin takes a moment to find his voice. People are dying, Sasuke thinks, and they are having a conversation. He still feels strangely numb. He wants to go home. "Orochimaru is Konoha's debt."

"He's not here," Sasuke says and it's the truth, "He left when we felt your signature close to the border." "We" really means Sasuke because Sasuke told Orochimaru as soon as he could that there is an armed force coming and it is enough time for the snake man to sneak away, enough time for Uchiha and him to hide. He thinks the snake man cares for them because his soul reads that way. Sasuke thinks he cares for Orochimaru too.

He tells the konoha-nin none of this.

In his left eye, a sharingan spins and Sasuke says instead, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm tired." Because Uchiha has told him about the only other man in Konoha with a sharingan and how he trusts him. Somewhere another man dies and Sasuke feels tears in the corner of his eye.

Kakashi Hatake flinches as if he is struck and holds out his hand. "Come home, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiles, "Thank you."

...

(Sasuke is asleep at his back. Only two injured. One dead. When Tsunade sent the team of ten for a recon mission along Sound's borders, no one expects the army they find. One death is an acceptable loss. But a loss is a loss and it is felt throughout the camp as they make it back to one of Konoha's safe houses for treatment and rest.

Sasuke has been asleep since they left the battle field. He'd said they'd sensed them. No, Kakashi thinks, He'd said "we." But still he left, left Oto and Sound and Orochimaru of his own free will and that will count for something.

"How is he?" Genma asks and Kakashi shrugs. There are nurses and they are taking Sasuke—still asleep—somewhere.

"This makes things complicated," Kakashi says instead. Genma agrees

"Who will tell Tsunade?" Genma asks.

Kakashi shrugs.

"Will you take him to the hospital or IT?"

Kakashi shrugs.

Genma sighs, slips away and leaves Kakashi to his thoughts. Because Kakashi has never thought Sasuke would take his hand. Has never thought Sasuke would thank him. Has never thought he'd see the boy c-cry. (And here Kakashi's thoughts stop, loop back, and get stuck again on the thought of tears in a young boy so like what he was that he can barely breath through the pain and heartache and knowledge that he has failed…again.)

(But Sasuke is coming home of his own free will and that must count for something.)

When the nurse return it's to tell him of the starvation and stress that plagues his student and Kakashi despairs. Everything is far too complicated now.)

...

Sasuke is in awe as they step through the gates, taking it all in. Beautiful, he thinks. Konoha is beautiful in its simplicity. A mighty city hidden behind thick trees and a stone gate. Red and gold all over. He tells Kakashi this and Kakashi hums. Sasuke likes to think he's agreeing.

It hasn't been hard to play dumb, to let them think what they want of what happened to him in Sound. Torture, they have said, forgotten memories. Let them fill in the blanks they want. When Kakashi brings him first to the hospital and then to the Hokage, Sasuke let's them poke and prod. Sasuke likes Kakashi. Likes the silent, white-haired man who is Uchiha's teacher until Orochimaru stepped in (until Uchiha left this beautiful, peaceful city behind for a world that has taught him only how to slaughter.) Outside their small bubble of Jounin and Sasuke, he sees others gasp and chatter. Murmurs and unapologetic stares follow him through the city. And Sasuke closes his eyes and ears to it all. Instead, he reaches over gracelessly to weave his fingers with Kakashi's and let himself be lead through this golden city.

Peace looks good in this world. How he has missed peace.

Kakashi speaks to the Hokage in whispers as Sasuke allows his mind to wander. He hopes Uchiha is okay, safe and running like he'd told him. Let Orochimaru follow, Sasuke thinks,let Kabuto keep playing whatever game he means to.

"Uchiha," the Hokage snaps and Sasuke finally turns lazy eyes to look at her. She is beautiful and her chakra crackles with untold strength. It flares bright green and yet, for all its power, it emits the same warmth and kindness that characterizes Uchiha. He finds himself relaxing.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Sasuke says.

The Hokage's eyes narrow and she shares a telling glance with Kakashi before looking back at him. "Why did you return?"

From the way Kakashi tenses, Sasuke imagines this is not originally what the Hokage had been saying. Sasuke shrugs, "I wanted to come home."

This catches them both off guard and Sasuke goes back to starring out the window. It is not a lie. They speak some more and Kakashi takes him by the hand and leads him away and out again into this beautiful peaceful city. Sasuke thinks, Why couldn't this whole world be like this? And he thinks, How could Uchiha ever leave this behind? So he tells Kakashi, "I'm sorry I left."

And Kakashi says, "I'm sorry I let you go."

And Sasuke nods. Accepts it just as Kakashi has accepted his apologies. When he meets Uchiha next Sasuke will tell him how much his sensei misses him and hopes that will be enough for Uchiha to stay.

...

Sasuke is not surprised when Kakashi leads him to a cell. He has expected it because it would have been too easy otherwise. When the balding, scarred man and the tired-looking blond man enter the room Sasuke smiles in greeting.

The bald man asks questions and the blond man observes. Sasukes answers as truthfully as he can. Sasuke imagines it is going well. It is only when the blond man makes a series of hand signs and Sasuke sees his chakra lash out does he react, instinctually pulling and twisting at the lemon-yellow chakra that surrounds the man until it is contained. It is only when three men wearing white masks enter the room that Sasuke realizes both he and the blond man are screaming. The lemon-yellow chakra is fading and Sasuke lets go, releases the chakra he has stolen and sends it back to the blond man as quickly as he can until he is the only one screaming.

There is a man restraining his hands and another with a knife at his throat. The third and the bald man are assisting the blond man to his feet. "I'm sorry," Sasuke says when he can control himself and his voice is rough. His throat hurts. "I'm so, so sorry."

The blond man stares at him in something like fear and something like curiosity before Sasuke is alone. He rests his head on the table and cries himself to sleep.

...

When he wakes there are drawings on his arms that move to his chest before finishing along his hipbones. Thick black lines are like veins connect them and Sasuke touches them cautiously. They do not smear, but they do not feel like a tattoo.

A woman in a white dress enters the room soon after he wakes and asks him how he feels. Her chakra is a shining red and orange. It is neither cool nor warm. Neither inviting nor uninviting. But there is strength like a forest fire. She asks him to mimic her as her hands move in a flurry of signs that he recognizes (snakeratmonkeyhare) only because Kabuto has drilled it in. When nothing happens he tries again, confused. Her expression remains the same but her chakra drops to her shoulders and floods outwards like a cap where before it had settled tight around her face and arms. He tries again and when nothing happens he notices a lack of warmth that usually accompanies the hand signals.

He looks again at the drawings on his arms and feels fear settle along the back of his neck. Kill or be killed, Kabuto had told him. Once Sasuke had chosen death. That is then. Now he has a purpose. How can he complete his mission if he cannot defend?

(Never kill. Not yet. Please not ever.)

...

When Kakashi returns for him, Sasuke asks about the blond man's health and Kakashi tells him everything is going to be okay. It is not very reassuring. On their way to wherever Kakashi is leading him next, they run into a beautiful, pink haired woman and Sasuke cannot help but stare.

"Sasuke," she whispers and Sasuke wishes he knew her name. Instead he turns to Kakashi.

Kakashi clears his throat awkwardly, "Sasuke, this is Sakura," he says, "You used to be teammates." There is a story there.

Sasuke combs through the memories Uchiha has told him and left him and finds himself lacking. "I thought my teammate was Naruto," he says. When he looks back, the woman looks distressed. He moves forward and takes her hand in an attempt to comfort her, "I'm sorry. I don't remember things very well, recently. But I'd like us to be friends again."

The woman squeaks some form of agreement and rips her hand away as if he'd burnt her. Perhaps they had not been on good terms and that is why Uchiha hadn't mentioned her. "I have a shift at the hospital," she says so fast it comes out more like "Ihaveashiftatthehopsital." And then she is gone.

Kakashi sighs.

Sasuke watches her go until he cannot see her any longer. "Kakashi-sensei, where is Naruto?"

Kakashi looks at Sasuke for a moment and then looks away. Leaving his question unanswered.

...

When Sasuke is five, his brother taught him how to skip rocks across a lake near their elementary school. Sasuke had just started and already he'd been terribly bored with his lessons. When he'd told Itachi this, Itachi had looked sad. But still Sasuke enjoyed school. He enjoyed hanging out with the friends he'd made in his first week there. Benjamin, he'd told Itachi, is his best friend because the boy had helped him snuggle a frog in after recess. They hadn't gotten caught.

It is there that Itachi met Benjamin for the first time. Already six years old (only six months older than Sasuke) because he'd started school a little later because he had trouble pronouncing his r's and w's, the blond is taller and broader than Sasuke and had no trouble lifting Sasuke up and spinning them around in a hug as Sasuke had shrieked for his brother to save him from hyperactive blonds.

Only when he'd finally been placed down and gotten enough breath to introduce his new friend to Itachi does Sasuke notice how impossible sad Itachi had looked. "Aniki?" Sasuke had asked in their mother tongue.

Itachi shook his head, tried to smile, said it is nice to meet him, and began teaching Benjamin how to skip rocks. It is only later that Sasuke would hear Itachi mumble under his breath, "Of course they found each other."

Looking now at the blond haired boy before him, Sasuke feels he understands why his brother had been so impossible sad. Because he knows this boy with his bright blue eyes and ridiculous grin. He knows the way he likes his coffee in the morning and the way he likes to greet Sasuke before they start school. Sasuke knows how clammy his hands had felt the first time he'd asked Sasuke out and he knows what his morning breath tastes like. Sasuke knows all these things about Naruto Uzumaki because he knows all those things about Benjamin Namikaze, the wild, beautiful blond-haired boy who'd helped Sasuke smuggle a frog in after recess and became his best friend and, years later, his boyfriend.

Of course, he says none of this. And when Kakashi slowly touches his arm after several moments of tense silence after Naruto burst his way into Kakashi's apartment just before breakfast, Sasuke couldn't help but start crying.

...

(Naruto is still shaking several minutes after Kakashi-sensei finally manages to calm Sasuke. "What happened to him?" Naruto has to ask because…because of all the things he'd expected when he finally met Sasuke again (harsh words and harsher fists) , tears had been the furthest from his mind.

Kakashi says nothing for a few moments as he calmly settles Sasuke down on the sofa and pulls a paw-print covered blanket over the sleeping boy. "His memories are hazy, interrogation…isn't effective, and we have no idea what's happened in Sound, not really."

Naruto frowns. He steps closer and looks down at the sleeping boy in front of him. "Why did he cry?"

Kakashi sighs, "We don't know. He hasn't done that in a while."

Naruto thinks he hates Orochimaru a little more than he used and he hadn't thought that was possible.)

...

The next morning, Sasuke apologies to Naruto because there is nothing else to do and asks if they can start over again.

"I'm Sasuke," Sasuke tries and holds out his hand.

Naruto stares at him as if he's never seen him before and Sasuke feels himself wavering. Benjamin. Benjamin. Benji. Ben. Sasuke thinks, Here you are. I've missed you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Finally, Naruto takes his hand and pulls him into a hug. Sasuke blinks tears away.

"Teme," Naruto snarls, pulls away and lifts his fist as if he's going to punch Sasuke and Sasuke holds up two hands, fingers spread, and smiles. "You…don't fucking do that again."

Sasuke laughs, "Fair."

He pretends that he doesn't see Naruto and Kakashi share looks of… confusion? behind his back as he turns away and asks about lunch. Let them think what they want. Let them fill in the blanks. Somewhere out there Uchiha is letting Orochimaru chase him from one side of the continent to the next. And Sasuke has a purpose.

He pushes thoughts of love and his true home far away and focuses. He has a family here to protect. Everything else can come later.

...

(Somewhere along the border of Frost and Cloud, Uchiha Sasuke pauses for a rest. For the moment, he is alone. But he does not know for sure and not for the first time longs for his twin's presence. Twin because for all that they are the same they are not. Pacifism and kindness and hope have no place in his world and yet…

I listened to him, didn't I? Sasuke thinks ruefully, Here I am with Orochimaru's nin on my tail and my brother's trail just warm enough to keep following.

"I'm coming for you, Aniki," Sasuke promises to the wind and he hopes somehow his brother hears him, "And this time things will be different.")

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading. Please tell me what you think. I needed to get this out of my system.

 **Edit:** So! I have decided to continue this story. After receiving such immediate and positive feedback, I feel like it would be stupid to deprive both me and you of the next chapter. I cannot commit to constant updates. I do have a chapter almost complete simply because work was really slow this week, but that will not always be the case.

Thank you for all your feedback! And I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

...

Also! The reason Uchiha isn't punch-my-arm-through-my-best-friend-crazy right now is thanks to Sasuke. I still believe Sasuke went to Orochimaru not just because he wanted power but because he wanted power to stop terrible things from happening to himself and those around him (aka He was a scared, traumatized child who never received the care he needed). And as he gained more and more power through battles, he lost that sense of morality and justice and protecting the weaker man that drove him in the first place leading to...Shippuden!Sasuke.

But with Sasuke there Uchiha finds a semblance of family and that need to protect family that we see when Uchiha protected Team 7 starts to show it's face again bringing him back from that edge. Uchiha also sees a gentleness in Sasuke that he didn't think could exists and longs for that in himself even though he "knows" gentleness and mercy have no place in his world. That's why he grew his hair out long to emulate Sasuke on some level.

Does that make sense?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

...

 **Two Heads Are Better Than One (Until You Have None)**

...

Chapter 2

( Never before has Kakashi found reporting to Tsunade-sama so difficult. But difficulty of a mission has never been something Kakashi has allowed to get in the way before; it would be useless to start the habit now.

So here he is in the Hokage office early enough to see the rays of the sun just peaking over the Hokage Mountain. Early enough to know that by the time he gets back Sasuke will have started breakfast. At some point during his time with Orochimaru, Sasuke had learnt to cook. At some point during his time with Orochimaru, Sasuke had learnt to do a lot of things.

 _Like smile_ , Kakashi thinks as he rises to stand to attention in front of a sleepy Tsunade-sama.

Tsunade-sama nods her head as she sits down at her desk and Kakashi relaxes, allowing his shoulders to drop to that too-familiar slouch that characterizes most of his teen and young adult life.

"Report," she says around a yawn.

Kakashi nods, "Very little has changed since last week. Sasuke has yet to reach out to anyone other than myself and seems to only just tolerate Naruto's presence. He has refused to increase his training regimen or activate his Sharingan despite encouragement and multiple chances."

Kakashi has been equal parts proud and mystified when Sasuke had failed again and again to rise to the challenges Kakashi had been goading him with through casual use of the Sharingan and pointed comments encouraging the use of the more advanced techniques Sasuke must have learnt from his time in Sound. Yet Sasuke stuck to the same variety of body conditioning, katas (though most of them were fairly advanced). Only when pushed does he attempt a little of the new style of taijutsu that combined the Uchiha's preferred fast strikes and counter and Orochimaru's graceful defenses that had made the Snake Sannin such a terrifying opponent. It implies he has learnt something from Orochimaru but does not provide the information Tsunade-sama is looking for. Like whatever he had done to Inoichi-san during T&I despite the seals that should have rendered ninjutsu impossible in the small cell.

"He's…" Kakashi pauses wondering if this is something he wants to share. But…this is a mission (But it's also Sasuke and that always makes things more complicated. Always.) So he continues, "Coping relatively well. He is still Sasuke. But when around myself or Naruto, he can smile or even laugh."

Tsunade nods, "What are his loyalties to the village?"

Kakashi is simply reporting, but if he could be bolder (or more like if he wanted to) he'd say Sasuke has fallen in love with Konoha. ' _Golden,' he'd said_ , Kakshi recalls, _'Beautiful.'_ And Kakashi agrees. For all the pettiness Konoha is prone to and for all the dark secrets it stored within its shadows, Konoha is beautiful, full of potential for something better. And this, Kakashi is certain, is what Sasuke sees and it makes him proud. It gives him hope that this time Sasuke will maybe stay. "He is adjusting," is what Kakashi reports because some things aren't meant to be shared. And Kakashi knows that a man who disobeys his mission is trash, but a man who hurts his teammates is far worse (And things have always been more complicated than obey or disobey when it comes to Sasuke.)

Tsunade sighs, "I trust your judgment on this, Jounin Hatake."

 _No,_ Kakashi thinks _, you don't._ Because she has ANBU trailing Sasuke even when Kakashi is present. _But that's okay because you're right not to._ Sasuke is Sasuke and no matter how much he's changed (and at times it's like looking at another person) the team ( _family_ ) always comes first.

"Dismissed.")

...

Sometime between arriving at Konoha's red stone gates and falling into the habit of referring to Kakashi's two bedroom flat as home, Sasuke realizes with startling clarity that he feels lonely. Not the sort of soul crushing loneliness that characterizes the majority of Uchiha's memories, but the sort of loneliness that sneaks up on you. The sort of loneliness that settles in the corners of your life after one to many days without friends or family. The sort of loneliness that doesn't seem like a big deal until it is and you find yourself longing for home, for your mother and her warm presence and for your father and his steady strength.

But they're dead in this world so Sasuke is simply alone.

Stepping out, Sasuke fights for a destination as he starts his aimless wandering. When he'd been with sound, Orochimaru had been a steady supplier of order and orders. Working from dawn to dusk at any and every task had become routine. And Uchiha had been a constant as much as the boy could be when he wasn't being sent out on missions doing god knows what (and he still remembers the night Uchiha came home with a child's blood on his hands and they hadn't slept properly for a week because of the guilt and the nightmares) and not for the first time, Sasuke wonders where Uchiha is, what he is doing. He hopes Uchiha is safe. He hopes Uchiha will not do anything stupid.

It doesn't help that his mission has come to a bitter stalemate. He knows there are answers in Konoha. This was the Uchiha clan's home. This was where the massacre had taken place. But where to start looking? He'd been to the Uchiha compound, had skipped right over the fence and settled below a blooming cherry blossom tree. There had been slash marks in a variety of sizes and heights along the steady trunk. Some relatively fresher than others. He'd wondered which were Uchiha's and which were older. How long had this tree weathered time? How many young Uchiha ninja had practiced their kunai throws along its bark?

In that moment, as the steady silence of the compound took on an ominous feeling, he had been struck with the utter desolation and unfairness of it all. This is a home, isn't it? This is the home of the once great clan. It should be Sasuke's family walking the steps along the outer wall, chatting and laughing, not ghosts. In the distance, dinner should be finishing. His younger cousins causing a ruckus in the gardens as their older siblings struggled for some semblance of control. Like large family gatherings during the Fourth of July and Winter Break, life should be oozing from every nook and cranny. Laughter and shouts of joy. Teasing and harmless bickering in equal measure.

But instead there is silence.

He hadn't been able to stand it. He'd run, unable to look back, straight back to Kakashi where he'd burrowed into the man's couch and fought back tears until the sensei had returned and he was in control.

Now he is still working up the courage to return. He considers asking Kakashi to accompany him, but Sasuke honestly doesn't want to worry the man any further. And he doesn't trust Naruto with it just yet. He knows Uchiha's thoughts: friendship and hatred all bundled up into the enigma that is their relationship. Fighting against each other as often as they had fought alongside each other. Screamed more than talked. Glared more than laughed. Sasuke had to wonder how they had started to consider each other best friends, wondered if they would ever have the chance to feel more.

And like usual, Sasuke sighs, he finds his thoughts returning to Benjamin. Inevitably, it always leads back to Benjamin.

Sasuke pauses in front of a small toy store that reads "Toys4Nin." In the display case is a variety of scrolls and oddly sharp toys painted in a variety of reds and oranges. It takes him a moment to realize a few of them were blunted versions of kunai. _How cute_ , Sasuke smiles, remembering the play doctor set his mother had gotten him to encourage him to pursue the medical field. He wonders at what age ninjas are trained here. In Sound it had been young. Far too young and he'd said as much to Orochimaru's face. Starting at five and dying by thirteen and fourteen on missions meant for grown men and women. It was wasteful and ignorant to assume a teen could ever be a proper soldier. The human mind just doesn't develop fast enough.

Uchiha had been awfully skilled, but Sasuke had always been a genius in his own right. And not to mention how…driven Uchiha was. Sasuke wonders if in Konoha they started around thirteen, when they hit puberty. Still young, but thirteen…That seems like the right time to start conditioning the body at least and then they probably learn all those advanced jutsu Orochimaru had taught them when they hit sixteen and older. No reason to give a child such a powerful weapon before they had the maturity to wield it.

Moving along, he decides to head towards the river. Maybe he'll follow it out towards the forest contained within Konoha's gates. So preoccupied with his own rambling thoughts, he almost walks straight into Sakura, who is happily chatting with a long-haired blonde.

"Ah…" Sasuke stutters, stepping to the side, and smiles, "Sorry about that, Sakura."

Sakura nods briskly before turning back to her friend and Sasuke feels his smile waver. Does she really dislike him that much?

The blonde steps in, "No problem, Sasuke-kun!" She says cheerfully. "So, hey? Do you remember me?!"

"Ino!" Sakura scolds her friend. But Ino just waves her off.

"Oh… no," Sasuke shrugs, "Sorry about that."

Ino frowns but quickly smiles again. Turning to Sakura, she bumps her on the arm and grins, "I gotta head to work, Sakura. Catch you later, yeah?"

"Eh…" Sakura stutters, "EH! Ino!" she calls out as her friend made a speedy retreat, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone.

Shifting awkwardly, Sasuke stuffs his hands into the pockets of the rolled-up baggy sweats he'd borrowed from Kakashi-sensei. "So…how are you, Sakura?"

Sakura takes a moment to look at him and when she does her face is a bright red. "I…I'm good, Sasuke-kun. Y-you?"

Sasuke shrugs, "I'm all right. It's weird."

Sakura's blush dies down and she smiles softly, "I'm glad you're home, Sasuke-kun." In the bright afternoon sun, Sasuke decides she looks exceptionally beautiful.

After a moment of silence, he says, "Um…" He shifts from his right foot to his left and tries to meet her eyes, "Would you like to get lunch with me?"

Her blush comes back full force and she nods slowly.

"Sweet!" Sasuke grins, holding out a hand as if to grab her before thinking better, letting it drop quickly in an attempt to keep things from getting awkward again. "Cause I have no idea what's good so you're picking."

When she doesn't say anything, he nudges her softly with his shoulder and starts walking, "Though mind you, I'm broke. So don't think I'm paying, kay? Kakashi-sensei is a total cheapskate."

Sakura laughs and takes a few quick steps to fall into place next to him, "I do know a few places," she admits, a little shyly and Sasuke smiles at her again, but this time it feels a little more genuine.

"Lead the way."

...

(Having lunch with Sasuke, Sakura quickly realizes, is disturbingly similar to having lunch with Ino. Both have an annoying habit of patiently waiting for her to talk, no matter how long the silence lasts.

Sakura, like all of team seven, is used to silences from Sasuke. It had, at one point, been part of his charm. Now, she likes to think she's grown. She likes to think she's changed.

Really…they all have.

Before, Sasuke would eat in a stony silence. An aura of long-suffering annoyance radiating off of him every time Naruto opened his mouth to speak. And she, so enamored with the beautiful and mysterious Uchiha Sasuke, would worry herself sick over what he thought of her looks and how she ate and how she sat. And was he looking? Or was that horrible Naruto stealing away his attention (as if, her future self would reflect with shame, he was a prize to be won) with his large mouth and larger amounts of chakra.

It had burned: her pettiness. That for all that she was smarter and prettier, it was Naruto Sasuke's eyes were drawn too.

Looking back, Sakura is ashamed to admit she'd been an idiot. An even greater idiot than Naruto, the great dead-last. It hadn't taken long under Tsunade-shishou's tutelage for her to realize that Sasuke hadn't been mysterious at all. He'd been broken. Traumatized. Hurting. Ostracized by both popularity and jealousy in equal amounts. And she had only added to it. When she'd realized, she'd despaired. _The village,_ she had thought, _had failed Sasuke_. Failed when it had failed to give him counseling. Failed when it had left him to live within the ghosts of the Uchiha compound. Failed when it had allowed the villagers and shinobi alike to romanticize him instead of seeing him for the child he was. And in doing so, the village had doomed her team from the beginning.

There were few things worse, in the eyes of Team Seven, than hurting a teammate.

Even Naruto had been able to see everything Sakura had willingly allowed herself to be blind to.

Sasuke-kun wasn't arrogant. He shielded himself from pain. He wasn't cold. He was hurting. He wasn't mysterious or cool. He was a boy. A boy who had needed someone to take his hand and tell him, truthfully, that it was okay to mourn.

Looking at the Uchiha Sasuke sitting in front of her—calmly perusing the menu while he waited with patience Sakura only thought Ino possessed—that she is certain someone in Sound had done what every member of the Hidden Leaf had failed to do. And that thought made her equal parts happy and guilty. So very guilty.

Finally picking up her menu, she smiles, "The duck noodle soup is good."

Sasuke hums, "Is that what you're getting?"

Sakura thinks for a moment and shrugs, "I think I'll get a sandwich."

Their conversation pauses and Sakura scrambles to think of a topic, any topic. She feels the annoyingly-familiar heat rise to her cheeks and she kicks herself. She is over this! Sasuke-kun is just a boy. A very, very pretty boy. And she sighs.

But…but she really would like Sasuke-kun to maybe finally be her friend.

"Thank you," she finally says, "For inviting me out."

Sasuke sets his menu down and finally looks at her. He is smiling, but it does not reach his eyes. It is the first time she has noticed and she notices his eyes are so impossibly sad. _Mourning_ , she thinks, _takes time_.

"Thank you for accepting."

 _As if I'd ever say no_. she thinks. Then she remembers that he doesn't know that. "So how is it? Adjusting to Konoha again?"

Sasuke shrugs and flags down a waiter. After they order, he answers, "It's strange having people recognize me but I've never seen them before."

"What do you remember?" she blurts out before she remembers she's supposed to be polite. Polite but distant for once, because Sasuke-kun has never liked it when she butted in. _Idiot!_

Sasuke thinks for a moment before answering, "I know things more than remember. I know Kakshi-sensei is my teacher. That Naruto-san is important to me. I know that…my brother killed my family and," he says this with confidence, "I know Konoha has been the only place I have ever called home. But…" Sasuke looks up at her and Sakura is struck with a certainty that there is something Sasuke-kun is not telling her. "I don't really remember anything but my name and my time with Or- in Sound."

Sakura nods, letting him know she accepts his answer. But…she promises herself that she is not going to let Sasuke be alone. Not again. (And maybe one day he'll trust her enough to tell her the truth.)

...

Sasuke feels bad about lying to Sakura. And as they leave the restaurant after a fairly enjoyable lunch, he finds he has a hard time meeting her eye.

She is a good person, a bit shy and easy to fluster. She'd obviously been trying to be courteous of his situation. It had taken an embarrassingly long time during lunch for Sasuke to realize Sakura did not hate him but seemed to harbor a crush. But she hadn't acted on it though, and clearly she has a history with Uchiha. It isn't his place to pry.

After all, what can he say? _Hey! Sorry I'm actually another version of Sasuke from another dimension or era or something like that and I'm super gay for another version of Naruto._

 _Yeah_ , Sasuke thinks bitterly, _that'll go swimmingly_. It was had been hard enough to think of a somewhat plausible lie. And even then he'd only said it because the usual ANBU (which according to Uchiha's explanation of Itachi's time with the group is a bit like a black ops version of a ninja) guards had stayed several steps further back than usual but still close enough to intervene if necessary.

(He knows it must say something strange about him that he feels safer with a variety of masked men following him around. But it reminds him of Sound and Orochimaru's own strange brand of caring. He hopes the snake man is okay…and not too angry.)

"Hey, Sakura," Sasuke says, "What do you do for fun?"

She doesn't say anything for a minute and he looks up at her. She looks deep in thought, chewing her lip lightly and a crinkle between her eyebrows. He wonders if there is a Sakura in his world like there is a Benjamin in this world. He wants to meet that version of Sakura. He wonders how different she will be.

"I suppose I like to train," she admits, "And I enjoy the library. Reading has always been a past time of mine." She shrugs, "I'm a bit boring like that."

At the mention of a library, Sasuke cannot help but feel incredibly and uncomfortably stupid. A library! Of course there would be a public library here. There hadn't been in Sound, most of the population had been unable to read and the majority of the book stored away in Orochimaru's private library. But Konoha is different than Sound. "Do you want to go?"

"Hm?"

"To the library," Sasuke clarifies. "Or...could you take me to it? I admit I forget where it is and I've been meaning to catch up on some...stuff." Like the history, politics, culture and everything Uchiha Sasuke is expected to know about Konoha. After all, Sasuke mused, _memory loss can only account for so much._

"Of course, Sasuke-kun," Sakura is practically glowing and Sasuke wonders if it is because she enjoys the library so much or because she enjoys his company so much. Maybe it is a little of both. "I've been enjoying this biography on Tako Inzumni, the first advisor of the Naidaime. It's amazing how complicated politics is." She grins and adds, "I'm apprenticed under the Godaime and I've found learning about politics makes everything a whole lot easier when you're dealing with councilman and clan heads."

Sasuke hums, listening intently as Sakura continues to tell him about a series of meetings she'd attended, all of them centered on the building of a southern road from one of Konoha's proxy towns to the capital. "Every clan member," she scowls, "Is so prone to holding onto grudges. I think the Hyuuga will die out before forgiving the Nara over some land dispute that happened some fifty years ago."

"I didn't know you were so involved in the government," Sasuke says, "It's impressive."

"Ah well..." She blushes hard enough that her cheeks are as pink as her hair, but she manages to meet his eye unlike before. And she is smiling "It's really interesting."

The library, relative to everything else in the area, is an older building. It looks older. The walls are weather worn and the sidewalk around the building is cracking. But the landscaping is well maintained. And when he enters, the smell of old books reminds him of home.

"My mother…" Sasuke starts and then stops, suddenly struck with the reminder of how different things are here. Uchiha Mikoto hadn't been a librarian. She had been a shinobi and a damn good one, well known for her expertise in information gathering missions. She had been ANBU until she'd had Itachi and married the clan head's son. But… but in his world where there are no missions and ninja and wars that hit so close to home, his mother is a librarian. She has been a librarian since Sasuke started going to school. Some of his earliest memories are sitting by her feet in a crowd of children as she read out loud.

 _Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest_ , Sasuke remembers, _And the boy did. And the tree was happy._

Sasuke remembers thinking it was such a sad story. Now that he's grown up, he finds he might understand it a little bit better.

Sakura doesn't push him, but she waits to see if he'll finish his sentence. And when he doesn't, she smiles at him and Sasuke pretends not to see the pity in her eyes. Uchiha hated pity. Sasuke finds he might hate it too.

"So do I need an ID or anything?" Sasuke asks, trying to change the subject as they wait behind an elderly man to check in at the front desk.

Sakura shakes her head, "I have one. I'll get you a visitor pass and you can sign up for one when you've been reinstated."

The library itself is larger than Sasuke expects. The stacks are huge, intimidating in their height. And the few sky lights and gas lamps provide just enough lighting to read the titles along the spine. And yet the silence, that is only broken by the flipping of pages and the occasional sniffle, does not feel oppressive.

Instead, Sasuke thinks as he allows Sakura to pull him deeper into the stacks, it is like being transported to another world. The hustle and bustle of Konoha's busy streets feels far more distant than the four walls should allow. The dark wood tables lit by the yellow gas lamps act like a grounding island amongst the rows and rows of knowledge that defines Konoha.

"What do you want to read?" Sakura asks.

"Do you know a good overview of Konoha history?" Sasuke asks, flipping through one of the books left on the table. _Sealing for Beginners_ , the title read and the picture looks rather similar to the lines on his arms. Maybe he would keep it.

Sakura thinks for a moment, "Well…there are the academy textbooks, but I find them to be a bit… biased." She hums, "I know a series, but they're pretty dense…"

"Dense is alright," Sasuke says, shrugging off his coat and sweater. He's still reading the book and he's proud to say he only flinches a little when Sakura suddenly grabs his arm and pulls him closer to the gas lamp.

"Where did you get these?" She hisses, running her fingers over the black lines and kanji.

Sasuke shrugs her off, "When I went to T&I," Sasuke answers truthfully. No point in lying when he doesn't have to.

Sakura makes a soft, wounded noise and Sasuke tries to smile reassuringly at her, "It's okay," he insists, "I expected it wasn't going to be this easy. But I wanted to come back."

After a moment of just staring at Sasuke's arm, Sakura steps back at last, but the troubled look doesn't leave her face and she says, "It's not right."

"It's okay," Sasuke repeats. When she doesn't say anything, he adds, "You were going to show me a series of books?"

"Yeah…" Sakura says, quieter than before. "It's… It's over here."

As Sasuke follows Sakura back into the stacks, he rubs lightly at the seals on his wrists and tries to push his worry away. _What does she mean 'it's not right'?_

...

Coming home, Sasuke is only half surprised to see Naruto and Kakashi sitting at the dining table talking about something (him, usually). Taking off his shoes at the entrance—who knew ninja slippers would be so comfortable—he walks towards the kitchen and asks, "Have you eaten?"

"Take out," Kakashi says, making a lazy motion towards the fridge. He smells faintly of sweat and wet dog and Sasuke tells him as such. "Yeah well…Gai."

In his time living here, Sasuke has only met Maito Gai twice and even then he's aware of how much "Gai" can act as a catch-all sentence. "Do any interesting challenges this time?" he asks as he pulls out the take out—ramen—out of the fridge and pour it into a pot to heat up.

"Dog grooming," Kakashi sighs, getting up and pulling a beer out of the fridge. Sasuke holds out his hand and Kakashi gets a beer for him too. Perks of being a ninja here, apparently, if you graduated from the academy, you could drink. It only reaffirms Sasuke's belief that graduation must happen sometime around now since both Sakura and Naruto had graduated. Fifteen is a bit young, but Sasuke has learnt in Euro History that eighteen had only very recently been seen as adulthood where before sixteen was an acceptable age. Fifteen doesn't seem that off.

Naruto is being oddly quiet, Sasuke decides. But that's okay. Sometimes Naruto just gets oddly quiet around Sasuke. Sasuke wonders if it's because he's trying to avoid an argument.

"What did you do today?" Kakashi asks.

Sasuke pours his ramen into a bowl and sets the pot and ladle in the sink to wash later. "I met Sakura today," he says as he takes a seat at the table. "We had lunch and went to the library."

Naruto makes a face that Sasuke can't decipher, but Kakashi remains as neutral as ever. "Read anything good."

Sasuke nods, "A series on history. Brought some home. Apparently Sakura knows the librarian and got permission for me." The ramen is hot and salty and incredibly satisfying in a way that cup of noodles has just never cut it. "This is good."

Kakashi hums in agreement and turns back to Naruto, picking up their conversation where it left off. It seems Sasuke had been wrong. They weren't talking about him. It doesn't take much for Sasuke to zone out, content on eating his ramen and not thinking for once. The knowledge he read on the founding of Konoha is only making him more confused.

 _The village founded in an attempt to end the feud between the Senju and Uchiha,_ Sasuke thinks _, and yet…there has never been an Uchiha Hokage._

Something about that just doesn't sit right with him.

What is he missing?

...

(After Sasuke goes to his room and presumably to bed, Kakashi asks Naruto as calmly as he can, "What the hell was that?"

Naruto fidgets and looks away. "It's…" He shrugs.

Kakashi sighs and gets up, taking the dishes to the sink and starts the water letting them soak. Sasuke would wash them in the morning (And how things have changed that that is something he can depend on, Sasuke being there in the morning let alone Sasuke being there to wash dishes). "When's the last time you've seen Sakura?"

"Yesterday," Naruto says.

 _So not jealousy then_. "When Sasuke arrived, he didn't remember Sakura," Kakashi lets slip, glancing over his shoulder to watch Naruto's face, "I'm surprised he went out with her."

"Does he…" Naruto pauses and then says, "Does he not remember Team Seven?"

"No," Kakashi says, keeping his tone even. Eye's still trained on Naruto even as he starts washing the pot. "He thought you were his only teammate."

Naruto tries to hide the fact he's smiling and _Oh,_ Kakashi thinks, _Not jealous of Sasuke then, but of… Oh!_

"Will you be staying, Naruto?" Kakashi finally asks and Naruto shakes his head.

"No… I should get back before Iruka-sensei comes looking for me," Naruto says and grabs his coat. "See you later, sensei."

And Kakashi admits he had not expected that.)

* * *

 **A/N:** Wooo! So I am continuing this. I'd like to thank my Beta cyan96 who helped me get this chapter out so fast. I'd also like to thank everyone who commented, ya'll really encouraged me to continue writing this and that's pretty much the reason why this chapter exists.

So please tell me what you think. Did you like this chapter? Do you like the direction this story is going? I'm really curious to see your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

...

 **Two Heads Are Better Than One (Until You Have None)**

...

Chapter 3

...

(Uchiha Sasuke wakes beneath a thick canopy of trees to the sound of a twig snapping in the distance, sharp enough to imply a relatively large animal and loud enough for it to be too close. The lack of following sounds implies something not wanting to be heard.

It's amazing, Sasuke thinks, how being on the run has sharpened my senses. Slowly reaching for the kunai under his makeshift jacket-pillow, he calls out, "This is a warning."

When nothing responds, he rises with the kunai in hand and not for the first time does he wish for a longer-ranged weapon. Konoha taught him the close hand-to-hand combat of the Leaf. Orochimaru taught him the quick attacks and long range defense that made the Sannin something to be feared. Now he just needed an arsenal that would balance the two. Maybe if I could make my lightning fly…

Sasuke moves cautiously away from his camp and away from the noise. If it's Orochimaru's trackers, then they won't dare engage in the day. Not if they wanted any chance of taking Sasuke and leaving with all fingers and toes accounted for. If it's bandits, then it is irrelevant if they attempt to attack in the day or night, Sasuke will handle it as he has been - efficiently. If it is anything else…then he hopes it is his brother or one of his Akatsuki allies. After all, it is easier when the target comes to you, isn't it?

And it's not like I want to fight him anyway, Sasuke thinks as he gathers the few supplies he has (and he needs to restock soon). No… he has questions. Questions he's buried for far too long.

It is when he is shaking out the jacket he'd used as a pillow that they step out into the clearing. "Hello, Sasuke-kun," they say and Sasuke spins, kunai at the ready.

"Karin." Sasuke slowly lowers his kunai, "What are you doing here?")

...

(There is something wrong, Naruto frowns, with Sasuke.

From his vantage point above the streets of Konoha, Naruto keeps an even pace with the duo down below. Sakura-chan leans in closer still and says something to Sasuke and Naruto can make out a small smile on the otherwise somber boy's face. Naruto fights down that familiar bitter feeling of jealousy and confusion (and he doesn't even know why he's jealous of Sakura-chan, who he's chased after since he saw her sitting alone during recesses, and not Sasuke, his first friend and his first enemy).

It's too easy. Naruto insists as he jumps down and hides behind a chimney. Sasuke and Sakura-chan pause in front of a candy shop. Sakura-chan goes in to buy something and Sasuke waits outside, eyes lazily roaming the streets. For a second, Naruto swears that Sasuke can see him from his hiding space before Sakura-chan returns, pulling Sasuke's gaze away. Sasuke never made anything easy.

Sasuke coming home wasn't supposed to be easy. It wasn't supposed to be him just walking through the streets of Konoha, pleased to come home. Or… at least not in the beginning. Not at first. At first it was supposed to be harsh words and harsher fists, a battle of wills as Naruto and Sasuke finished the fight they'd started in the Valley of the End. It was supposed to be Naruto proving to Sasuke that he had something to come home to beyond his brother, something worth living for beyond the ghosts of his clan. It was supposed to be Sasuke finally, finally explaining why he left in the first place and explaining what Naruto had done wrong to make him leave. It was supposed to end with the two of them bringing justice to the Uchiha clan, justice to Konoha. It was supposed to end with the death of Itachi and a new beginning.

But now it's... not. Now it's Naruto watching from the sky, looking for a reason why everything has become too easy, far too easy. Now it is Sasuke leaning in to Sakura-chan's casual touches, to smiling at Sakura-chan's soft words. And Naruto fights that jealousy down because he will not take what little can make Sasuke smile away from him. Not now. Not ever.

Maybe, Naruto thinks, I am being cruel. Maybe it can be that easy. He watches Sasuke take a bag of salted peanuts from Sakura-chan and they continue their walk through the market. Probably headed to the library where they both tend to spend too long holed away amongst the stacks so that Sasuke leaves just in time to make dinner for Kakashi-sensei when he comes home from whatever it is the man does when he isn't babysitting Team Seven or taking missions.

When Naruto had learnt that Sasuke had returned to Konoha after a recon mission in Sound, Naruto had been ecstatic. Thrilled in ways he couldn't verbalize even if he'd tried. He'd rushed Ero-sensei and himself home at a pace that would have wounded a ninja with less stamina then one of the Sannin and a jinjuriki. He hadn't wasted time checking in with Baa-chan. Hadn't wasted time setting down his pack or airing out the apartment Konoha had kept waiting for him. He'd run to Sasuke, nearly broken down Kakashi-sensei's door in his need to see that it was true, that Sasuke had come home.

He hadn't expected Sasuke to freeze up and start crying. He hadn't expected Kakashi-sensei to treat the former A-rank Missing-nin so gently. He hadn't expected Sasuke to apologize in the morning. It seems… Naruto hadn't expected a lot of things.

Trauma, they tell him. Causing missing memories and personality changes. 'Everyone reacts to trauma differently,' Kakashi-sensei had said (though how convinced was he really) when Naruto had asked how Sasuke could be so… different. But that isn't right because Naruto knows how Sasuke reacts when the world hands him the short end of the stick. He gets angry. He gets revenge. He makes stupid, impulsive decisions as he tries to get in control of the situation. He doesn't… He doesn't become passive. He doesn't roll over and admit he's wrong. That isn't Sasuke. That isn't the Sasuke Naruto knows.

The boy in front of him is Sasuke, Naruto thinks, but it isn't his Sasuke.

Naruto doesn't know what to do with that thought.)

...

It's a week after Sasuke starts coming to the library with Sakura that Sasuke realizes how wrong he's been. He stands up so fast his chair falls backwards, the crash deafening in the ever-present silence of the Konoha Library. Sakura reacts, pulling out a kunai and spinning a 360. Checking for enemies, Sasuke's mind supplies.

Sasuke wonders, in a daze, how many times she's seen battle to have reflexes that sharp. It had taken Sasuke two months of near constant surprise attacks from Kabuto to develop a "healthy dose" of paranoia. But Sakura must have learnt that lesson much earlier than him if these books spoke the truth. "Sorry," Sasuke says. He feels distant as if he is really miles and miles away instead of here in this beautiful library. "I… er- I just remembered something," he lies.

Sakura tries to catch his eyes, but Sasuke looks away. He grabs the book he was reading and the two he wants to check out. "I think I'm going to head out," he tells Sakura. He takes a moment to right his chair before all but running from the library. He wonders what he must look like to her.

But he doesn't have time to think about it. He needs proof. He needs to know if the book is right.

He is making his way through the streets of Konoha, the map he'd memorized clear in his mind, before he abruptly remembers his ANBU guard. He cannot do what he wants with an audience and so he makes a sharp left attempting to lose his guard. It takes fifteen minutes before he sees the cherry red of his guard's chakra fade into the distant, headed in the opposite direction. He's by the edge of town, near the hot springs. It takes a good twenty to make his way back, keeping an eye out for any ANBU patrols.

He reaches at first for that familiar warmth before he remembers the seals that bind his chakra. So instead he begins the laborious task of making his way up one of the large trees in front of the Academy. He situates himself within a family of thick branches. From his vantage point, he can see the field he'd first assumed was a playground. Now he sees it for what it is: training grounds.

The children are off in pairs. Fighting. A man picks his way through the students—Iruka-sensei, Uchiha's memories supply—correcting stances or forms or punches as necessary.

So, Sasuke thinks, and it is like he is back on that battle field. He feels so strangely calm. It isn't a lie. Child soldiers, he thinks and tries to fight down the nausea. Just like in Sound. Made to fight from age five. Made to die by thirteen. He stifles a laugh and leans back against the cool bark of the oak he hides in. Even here there is no peace. Even here children are born to die.

And he had thought Konoha a heaven. How… how pathetic.

He cannot stay for much longer.

Sasuke feels dazed walking back from the academy. That same strange calm has yet to leave him. The sun is setting. The gold looks tarnished. The red drips like blood. Children pass him on the street as their parents herd them home and he stops to watch them pass. How many of them will live to adulthood? He turns his eyes towards the parents all speaking to each other. How can they stand the guilt?

And, he thinks with bitterness, they claim to be better than Sound. At least in Sound they had not hidden their brutality in children's toys. Had not attempted to pretend they were doing anything less than raising children for battle. No. In that way, Sound had been kind.

What else did Konoha hide? And Sasuke's eyes lingered for a moment on the Hokage Mountain; their stern faces a constant on the horizon. He thinks back to what he has read, Never has there been a Uchiha-associated Hokage.

When he returns home, he stands in front of Kakashi-sensei's door for far too long before working up the nerve to enter. He finds Kakashi-sensei writing reports in the living room. He doesn't know what to do. And so he stands there at a cross roads. If he speaks, what will he say? Can he pretend he doesn't know better?

And… will Kakashi-sensei even understand why he is upset. After all, if Sound is the same as Konoha, then is it safe to say the whole world is like this. If Sasuke had no other frame of reference, would he find it wrong?

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei asks, setting his pen down. He looks calm. He looks unconcerned. But Sasuke has lived long enough with the other man to know looks can be deceiving.

Sasuke does not know what to say so he says nothing.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei repeats, standing and making his way over. Sasuke looks up to meet his eye. Kakashi-sensei is very tall. This is not the first time Sasuke has realized this, but it seems to matter in that moment.

"I…" Sasuke says before closing his mouth, his mind running. In his world, children are children. They do not fight wars. They do not fight, period. They play games of tag and their biggest worries should be grades and friends and childhood love. And… he knows, intellectually, that that is not true for all children. He knows children suffer. He knows some people are not meant to be parents. But… But that is not the norm, right? That doesn't count… right?

"Do you ever think of peace?" Sasuke asks.

Kakashi-sensei stares at him, confused. "We are in peace, Sasuke," he says.

No, Sasuke thinks. Because how can peace allow children to die fighting battles meant for adults? "Real peace," Sasuke insists, "Where children don't have to grow up learning how to fight and… wars happen so—"somewhere else.

It is then that Sasuke realizes he has been disgustingly naïve. Irrationally naïve. He knows there are wars in his world, but they have always been distant. Something to be seen on the TV or read on the social media feeds. Not something his cousins died in. Not something he trained for. Not… not something he'd die in. War… war was something that happened somewhere else to someone else. Is he selfish for wanting that back? Is he wrong to want it for this Sasuke? For Sound and Konoha and its children?

He looks past Kakashi-sensei to the reports left on the coffee table and realizes he doesn't know what Kakashi-sensei does for a living. What does Kakashi-sensei do on those missions? What does it mean to be a ninja of Konoha?

Children in his world suffer. Not every child grows up free of war and battle. Not every child gets to live to adulthood. He thinks about the photos of the aftermath of bombed cities in the Middle East, a place so foreign it could be on another planet. Children in Afghanistan have learnt to fear blue skies because it means drones can fly, Sasuke remembers with sudden, startling clarity. He looks back at Kakashi-sensei and says, "Do you think it's possible to stop war?"

Kakashi-sensei looks taken aback and he reaches out to touch Sasuke before letting his arm fall away. "What are you thinking, Sasuke?" And now he sounds worried. It seems all Sasuke does is worry this man.

Sasuke looks away again. They are standing close and, in a moment of weakness, Sasuke leans forward, allows his head to thump against the other man's chest. Slowly, Kakashi-sensei wraps his arms around him. "I don't think anything makes sense anymore," he says truthfully. He still feels calm. Far too calm. And he wonders what is wrong with him.

Kakashi-sensei doesn't say anything and so they simply stand there. Lost in thought.

...

(The one down side of being the Godiame's student is how often her lessons tend to get interrupted. Sitting quietly in the corner of the hospital room, Sakura stifles a yawn as the elder council and Tsunade-shishou go through the traditional greetings before the council session begins. Sakura doesn't understand why they have to do this now, in the middle of the morgue of the Konoha hospital as Tsunade-shishou was testing her bone repair technique on a now-deceased construction worker. It is amazing, Sakura thinks a bit morbidly, but sitting the morgue can do that to someone, how easy the skull is to shatter. She clenches her fist and not for the first time marvels at the power she feels in her forearms.

"Council," Tsunade-shishou says, getting straight to the point, "What is the reason for this urgent visit? I believe we are meeting tomorrow, or am I to find out otherwise?"

Lord Homura steps forward as he often does, the clear leader of the two. Not for once, Sakura wonders why Tsunade-shishou has yet to replace the council with her own peers. She does not like Lord Homura. There is just something off about the man for all that he seems so calm and courteous. "The general council is still meeting, but we… wished to speak with you privately."

This is something Sakura has always envied in Tsunade-shishou - her utter lack of patience for things she deems stupid. It is, Sakura is not shy to admit, something she wishes to emulate. There is very little about the woman in front of her that Sakura does not wish to emulate (other than her drinking habit, honestly; sake tastes terrible.) "Is there a particular reason this cannot wait for tomorrow?"

"It has to do with the matter of the village's safety," Lord Homura says, and Tsunade-shishou cuts him off with a rather unlady-like sigh.

"We have discussed the Uchiha situation," Tsunade-shishou says. "I will not bow to this. Until we have proof of any disloyalty to Konoha, Sasuke Uchiha is an innocent." She puffs up her chest and Sakura can feel her power all the way from here. She does not understand how the council is not cowed. "I will not allow Konoha to become a place where we slaughter based on assumption." Tsunade-shishou takes a moment to look both councilors in the eye. "I will not have this discussion again.

Sakura presses her lips together and tries not to react. But her hands are shaking hard enough that she has to press them together to force them still. She looks at each councilor. They are not backing down, but they bow out with as much grace as they had entered. Tsunade-shishou deflates and she turns back to Sakura. Her eyebrows are pinched and she is frowning. Sakura feels that pit of worry only grow in her stomach the longer she looks at her teacher.

There is something going on here, Sakura thinks, something she needs to figure out.

No one gets away with trying to hurt Team Seven.

Not again. Not ever again.)

...

(Sasuke, Karin thinks, has changed. Looking at the long-haired ninja in front of her, she tries not to smile. She'd heard rumors, but it's nothing compared to actually looking at the soon-to-be-man in front of her. It is hard to find the similarities to that quiet, ill-tempered boy who'd limped his way to Orochimaru-sama.

She still remembers. The ragged child drenched in blood, both his own and someone else's (someone who'd felt like forest fires and crushing-power), who'd screamed himself hoarse getting an audience with Orochimaru-sama. She'll never forget the rage on his face when he'd dared to demand better treatment "next time" and more competent allies than the four who'd been sent to get him. (She'd also never forget how instead of beating the boy into silence, Orochimaru-sama had simply said he'd take it into consideration and told the boy to follow.)

The next time she'd seen Sasuke, he was deadly silent. Well trained as Orochimaru-sama's direct disciple armed with a deadly swiftness and effectiveness at downing his opponents (but even then he'd hesitated in delivering a death sentence). But his chakra was just as sweet and warm as the first time she'd met him all those years ago in Konoha's Forest of Death. She'd wanted to get closer to this strange boy who was equal parts cold and warm, whose actions never seemed to match his nature.

And now here she is. Sasuke flags down a waitress and asks for a glass of water with exceptional manners and Karin finally allows herself to smile. He is completely comfortable in his skin from the way he wears his hair (longer than she has ever seen it in the past three years) open and wild to the way he lounges, body unguarded, and almost lazy in the way he sits in the restaurant booth. But he is not a fool. From where she sits, she sees three open exits and she is almost certain Sasuke sees more. She thinks, her smile turning a little lecherous. He will grow to be a very beautiful man.

So far they have yet to touch on why Karin is here or why Sasuke has yet to flee her but they talk. And from that Karin attempts to glean Sasuke's mindset. Information gathering, chakra training, and speed: it is what she is good at, after all. She thinks he is stable. She thinks he has a plan and no direction. She thinks she can make a bargain here. Orochimaru-sama will get what he wants, Karin thinks, if I play my cards right.

So after their lunch, they walk towards the market square where Sasuke haggles the price of vined tomatoes down and packs them in his bag before moving to a convenience store to buy more reasonable non-perishables. Here is where Karin asks, "Do you even know which direction to go?"

Sasuke adds two canned soups to the cart before answering, "I heard a reliable rumor that a large shark man was seen in Water's capital."

"And if I told you they were in Wind?" Karin asks, adding a handful of granola packets to the cart. Sasuke looks down at the addition and then looks at her, raising a single eyebrow. She wills her face to remain neutral.

"I would say you're one of the best trackers in the continent," Sasuke says, voice even. He doesn't take the granola out and heads towards the cash register.

When they exit the store she corrects him, "I am the best tracker in the continent." It is something she is proud of, her way of paying homage to a homeland that no longer exists except in the unedited history books. She never knew the pride of belonging to the Uzumaki outside of her name, but a clan is a clan. Sasuke is the last of the Uchiha. She is certain he understands this pride.

Sasuke hums in agreement and then adds, "I know someone with potential if you ever wish to take on a student."

"Oh?"

Sasuke nods, "Maybe one day you'll meet." He stops by a park bench and sits down. She follows. He begins arranging his supplies in his bag. So far no one in this town has recognized them as Oto-nin. It is quiet here. If she believed in such a thing, she would almost call it peaceful. In front of her, children run in a field as their parents stand a safe distance away. It is a good place to raise a family. "What do you want, Karin?"

"A bargain," she says truthfully, because she respects Sasuke. His chakra is beautiful and he is strong. She has always respected strength above all else. "I will help you find your brother. But first, you will help me catch a prisoner."

"I have left Orochimaru," Sasuke says.

She laughs, "No you haven't."

Sasuke shakes his head and she sees again the Oto symbol stitched along the neck of his jacket, hidden behind his long hair. Maybe it is just coincidence that the black jacket bears the mark, but why doesn't he remove it if he has truly run from Orochimaru-sama? "Tell me… once you complete your quest, do you plan to go back?" She asks.

Sasuke doesn't answer her. But he doesn't deny her and so she will continue. If Sasuke is still loyal then he shall return in his own time. And she will stay as a reminder and complete her retrieval missions. Both for Sasuke and Suigetsu.)

...

(When Naruto opens the door after fifteen minutes of incessant knocking, he is ashamed to admit the last person he expected on the other side of the door is Sakura. Letting her into the apartment, he tries not to feel too self-conscious about the mess.

Cooking isn't his strong suit, but after living on the road for two and a half years, you tend to crave a homemade meal.

"Tea?" Naruto asks, already moving into the kitchen. Let it not be said that Naruto Uzumaki doesn't have some form of manners.

"Thanks," Sakura says and it's so soft that for a moment Naruto wonders if she had said anything to begin with. It's then that he realizes how tired she looks and he feels guilty. He's been so focused on Sasuke he honestly has no idea what's going on in her life outside of her recent lunches and walks.

Taking out two cups—orange and pink with little cats prancing around (it'd been a gift from Iruka-sensei; there is a matching blue one yet to be used)—he pours the hot water from the kettle and adds two tea bags. Passing the cup to Sakura, they take a seat at his kitchen island and he smiles at her, "So why ya here, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura tries smiling back and Naruto lets his smile fade away. "Is it that bad?" he asks somberly.

Sakura shrugs and stares into her mug for a moment. "I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy."

Naruto pulls out his tea bag and squeezes the excess water out. "I promise not to think you're crazy," he jokes. "I'm the last person to go around judging crazy." He has a fox demon trapped in his belly button. He's the last person to turn something down just because it sounds ridiculous.

"You know how I'm the Godaime's student, right?" She starts, "Well… sometimes I get to sit in on council sessions and… I heard something today that got me thinking that… I think the council plans to kill Sasuke. Or… at least they're pushing for it. But I don't know why so…" She's mumbling the last part and Naruto has to strain to hear her.

Naruto sets his cup down and looks her straight in the eye, already thinking of how to contact Kakashi-sensei without letting the ANBU tailing Sasuke suspect anything. "Tell me everything."

Because, yes, something feels wrong when it comes to Sasuke. And yes, he doesn't know what to do with the other boy. But no one tries to hurt Sasuke and gets away with it. Not on Naruto's watch. And-he sees the same fire in Sakura's eyes-not on Sakura's.

No one is ever going to hurt Team Seven.

Not again. Not ever again.)

.

.

.

(Itachi wishes the officers a quiet "good night" and silently closes the door. "How's Mother doing?" Itachi asks turning to his father as the older man makes his way down the staircase.

Dad shakes his head, walks to the kitchen, and starts cleaning up the leftovers from dinner. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair is a mess from running his fingers through it so often. Itachi tries to help him, but his hands are shaking so hard the plates are rattling and his father takes them without a word. "How are you, Itachi?" his dad asks.

The air feels heavy and Itachi tries to take a deep breath. He doesn't know what to say. He shrugs.

When his parents had called him a week ago asking if he knew where Sasuke was, Itachi had never imagined they'd be here. Sasuke was supposed to have gone to Benjamin's. They'd had a movie date planned while his parents had gone out for a date of their own and Itachi spent the night in the library studying for O-Chem. Sasuke was going to call them when he got there because he knew how his family worried. When he hadn't, Itachi had thought he'd forgotten. When he'd called Benjamin and found the young teen in tears, Itachi had thought there was a mistake. There must be a mistake. Maybe the train had been delayed or Sasuke had decided to go home instead. He'd been so tired lately, working so hard and trying to do too much (like always) that he deserved a rest day.

But then the days kept passing.

Itachi feels his knees go weak. "I failed him," he whispers, staring down at his hands. His shoulders are shaking, he realizes. And - he touches his cheek - his face is wet. But he isn't making a sound despite the scream that is clawing its way up his throat and there is a strange ringing in his ears. "I failed him."

His father makes a distressed noise and brings him to the living room to sit down. "Shhh," Dad says, pulling Itachi in for a hug. Itachi lets him, buries his face in his dad's chest and breathes, "We'll find him. It's going to be okay."

The tears are coming faster, but when Itachi speaks his voice is as steady as ever. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he whispers, "I was supposed to protect him." I was supposed to be better this time. I wasn't going to let him get hurt. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him. He was going to grow up happy and naïve and untouched by all the terrible things in the world. And now he's gone! As if in an after thought, he adds, "It should have been me."

"Oh no," Dad whispers petting Itachi's hair. He's breathing hard and Itachi hears his father's heart flutter. "Oh no, no, no. This is not your fault, Itachi. This is the fault of whoever took him." His father pulls him up and looks him in the eye. They shine with unshed tears and Itachi is, not for the first time, so very grateful for this world that has allowed his father to become this man. Because there is fire in his father's eyes but there is also kindness, warmth, love. "Promise me," Dad orders, "Promise me you will not blame yourself. I will not lose two sons to this, am I clear?"

Itachi takes a deep, chest-rattling breath—the air is still so impossibly heavy—and nods, "Yes." Because he has not forgotten how to take orders even after all these cycles.

"I love you, Itachi," his father says, pulling him close for another hug. "It's going to be okay. Sasuke will come home. We just have to give it time."

Itachi just breathes and tries to believe.)

* * *

 **A/N:** Once again thank you so much for all the feedback! Seriously, it fuels me. I love knowing what people think of my work so thank you!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Added a few more POVs (Karin! WOO! Team Hebi is coming back!) and got us some Uchiha progress. Sakura is also becoming one of my favs to write.

I also wanted to point out that Sasuke hasn't really fooled them into thinking he's Uchiha. Both Kakashi, Sakura, and now Naruto have expressed their confusion over Sasuke's personality change (its there in their POVs in the last chapter and this chapter). They just assumed he is because he is identical to Uchiha and his memory loss and personality changes-to an extant-can be explained away by trauma. They don't know that Uchiha and Sasuke's time in Sound wasn't full of torture and abuse. Plus who would think there were two Sasuke's running around?

I'm going away for the weekend, but we'll see when I can get the next chapter up. So far updating has been working out which makes me really happy!

Shout out to my beta: TheMaelStromWrites


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

...

 **Two Heads Are Better Than One (Until You Have None)**

...

Chapter 4

...

"What are you doing here?"

It comes out ruder than he means but he doesn't exactly regret it. Naruto-san takes a sort of self-conscious step back and curls his shoulders in as if trying to make himself smaller. Sasuke blinks. Once. Twice. They stand in clearly uncomfortable silence. His ANBU guard makes a show of moving the leaves in the distance and Sasuke clears his throat awkwardly. "Right then… uh…"

Despite the late hour, he's just woken up, still dressed in the pajamas he'd borrowed from Kakashi-sensei. His hair is a mess. His breath tastes like death. And most of him wants to climb back into bed and sleep the day away like he has for the past several. If his stomach hadn't woken him there wouldn't have been anyone to open the door for Naruto-san.

Perhaps that would have been for the best.

Naruto-san clears his throat and tries for a smile. "Is Kakashi-sensei here?"

"No."

And… okay, now Sasuke feels guilty when Naruto-san's smile falls and the tree rustles just a little harder. "Would you like to come in and wait?" Sasuke offers as he silently wills Naruto-san to say no. It's not that he dislikes Naruto-san… He just doesn't want to be around people. Not even Sakura.

Besides… Being with Naruto-san makes him homesick.

(He wonders what Benjamin would think of him now before burying that thought.)

"Sure!" And now Naruto is smiling the same way Benjamin does when Sasuke remembers his birthday or that he likes cherry cola even though it is an abomination upon this earth and okay… Sasuke feels even more like crap than he has for the past few days.

Sasuke would smile in reply if the idea didn't make his cheeks hurt. He steps aside and lets Naruto-san bound in. By the time Sasuke has finished locking Kakashi-sensei's door, Naruto-san has already removed his shoes and begun digging around the humble kitchen. Sasuke follows at a much more subdued pace.

"So… how have you been?" Naruto-san offers to break the silence, and Sasuke is so very thankful that Naruto-san must be used to Uchiha's silences. Sasuke shrugs, but Naruto-san carries on. Back turned as he grabs a few water bottles from cabinets and packing them into the duffle bag Sasuke has just noticed. "I've been good. Managed to catch up with the others. It's crazy how much shit changes in three years, ya know… Well…" Naruto-san amends, tossing a look over his shoulder and smiles a little sheepish.

Sasuke doesn't react. Perhaps Uchiha would be able to understand what Naruto-san felt being away from home for so long. But to Sasuke, everything is new in a familiar-alien sort of way, not new in an aching sort of way. Maybe if he ever gets back home he'll…

Sasuke glares down at the tabletop. His heart aches. If I ever get home , Sasuke thinks, bitterly, not when. If .

Naruto falls silent and Sasuke looks up to see the other nin staring at him. Sasuke glares harder. "What?"

Naruto looks away. "I… I'm glad you're home, Sasuke."

No, I'm not , Sasuke's mind screams. I'm a fake. I'm a lie. The Sasuke you want is happily running around the country for a man who was framed for the murder of his family and I'm here. Lying . But he says none of this. How could he? Instead, he grits his teeth and nods. Turning his glare back to the tabletop, he hears Naruto sigh.

In the beginning, it hadn't hit as hard. The knowledge that he might never get back home. The knowledge that this might be his life. Instead, he'd been so caught up in trying to get stronger that it hadn't mattered. And then he was here, in Konoha, and ready to discover the truth. He'd thrown himself into the books and the streets, learning everything as best he could so he could think, plan ahead, and keep from getting caught. And it'd almost been fun. The sneaking and lying just enough to keep from getting caught. The need to think three steps ahead. Not that it had been hard letting the others think what they wanted and agreeing when they needed confirmation.

At one point, he might have even considered that Konoha, of all the places in this world, would be where he'd settle if he had to choose.

And then he learned he'd been a fool.

Konoha is no more a haven than Sound. This whole terrible world raises children for slaughter without batting an eye. Any other way of life might not even make sense in this strange, alien ( wrong ) world.

He wants to go home. He wants to see Benjamin instead of Naruto. He wants to see his family instead of graves and an empty home. He's tired in a way that has nothing to do with sleep. And he feels like an idiot. A complete and utter fool.

An almost-scream of "Sasuke" and a pair of strong hands jolting him forward brings Sasuke back. He reorients and finds himself back in the kitchen of Kakashi-sensei's minimalist two-bedroom apartment and Naruto. "Bastard," Naruto-san growls, shaking him again. Sasuke jerks back, removes his hands and gets up from the kitchen stool he is sitting on. "Where the fuck did you go?"

Sasuke looks away. From the heat, he knows he's blushing and that only makes him blush harder. "Sorry," Sasuke finally manages, catching Naruto's eyes for just a moment before looking away again. "Sorry… I'm just…" He makes a gesture to his bedroom and makes a run for it before anything else can happen.

God… He's such an idiot.

...

"Okay." Kakashi-sensei says suddenly into the quiet of their living room before slamming his book shut. "That's enough."

When Sasuke continues to just stare up, blankly, Kakashi-sensei makes an annoyed noise and gestures violently for Sasuke to rise. Which he does after a moment of general confusion. Kakashi-sensei grins, his one exposed eye smiling as Sasuke marks his place and sets his book on a brief history of internal-Konoha clan politics to the side. "We're going out," Kakashi-sensei says with an unnecessary amount of glee.

Sasuke frowns, raising a single eyebrow.

Kakashi-sensei just points to his bedroom with the express order to be ready in five or else. Sasuke goes. He's not above admitting he's curious. Still, wearing anything other than house clothes or pajamas is a little strange after two week of refusing to leave the house. But it's Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke can do this for him.

It is only when they start to reach their destination that Sasuke feels a certain amount of dread. He stops walking. Kakashi-sensei sighs as if he was expecting this but Sasuke cannot make his legs move forward. "Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei urges, reaching out and tugging at his shoulders.

Sasuke looks up, pleading. Kakashi-sensei's face softens, his smile becomes delicate, his eye impossibly kind. Suddenly the world blurs and when Sasuke blinks he finds himself standing at the gate of the Uchiha compound, the beautiful white and red fan lovingly worn by the elements, the rest of the compound standing in the same state of worn and yet somewhat maintained. Though who would bother to maintain such a ghost town?

When Sasuke takes a step backwards, Kakashi-sensei reaches out again, pulls him close so he's standing just before the entrance. Sasuke swallows, hard. "I…" Sasuke wants to tell Kakashi-sensei he can't. He can't go in there. He can't. It wasn't his family's home, but it was. It wasn't his parents but it was. It wasn't Itachi but it was. And he can't deal with that right now. He can't handle the yes and no, the confusion, the fact that this is his life, but it's all very much a lie. His knees go weak and there is Kakashi-sensei supporting his weight while his mind just screams NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo .

"Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei urges and yet his voice is still soft, kind, delicate. Sasuke feels delicate. He feels brittle. Kakashi-sensei pushes him one step, two. He's standing in the compound. The world is silent except for the birds in the distance. No people. "I don't know what you remembered," Kakashi-sensei says, "But we can't ignore our past."

"But…" Sasuke starts. Kakashi-sensei looks at him again with that smile and Sasuke feels tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "I don't know what to do," Sasuke confesses, because he needs to tell someone. Even if they don't really understand. Even if he doesn't really understand it himself. The world feels like it's constantly moving and twisting and turning and he just can't keep up. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

He can't help but think if Itachi was here he'd know what to do, would know how to make things right. (Itachi had always just seemed to know things.)

"I know," Kakashi-sensei says as if he did, but how could he? "I've lost people to. But…" He looks away and up, up into the sky above where clouds roll by. "We can live on for them. We can make things right."

Sasuke swallows, hard. Looks away from Kakashi-sensei to the compound that once held his family. If he stares he can see them here, his mother and father. His brother. His aunts and uncles and far too many cousins living here. The same but different like Uchiha. A little harder. A little worn. Slightly different morals, but the same in the ways that are important. "Okay."

He… he doesn't really mean it. Sasuke is self-aware enough to know that (he thinks Kakashi-sensei knows too). But it's a step. Towards something. Acceptance, maybe? Of this reality. Of this world. He takes a few more steps into the compound and turns to Kakashi-sensei. "Okay."

He takes a deep breath.

...

(Karin yawns, loud and open mouthed. Utterly unladylike, she thinks with a certain amount of glee. Besides her, Sasuke stretches, working out the kinks in his back. She spares him a glance and tries not to drool at the tantalizing skin. Really, it is unfair how attractive the other boy was. And it didn't help that he was so powerful, she thinks, remembering the battle from yesterday. A whole gang taken out without a drop of blood spilt. His chakra a steady siren call as he took out enemy after enemy with a pointed shock to the chest, just enough to lock the muscles and restrain.

It's enough to get a girl going. She giggles.

"Hm?"

She smiles at him, all pointy teeth, "It's nothing, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke gives her a look that screams disbelief, but he lets it go. "So where to next?"

She breaths deep and spreads out her senses, allowing the earth's chakra to lead her to her prey. Suigetsu feels like cool, crisp ocean air on overheated skin, the sense of unease you feel as you watch the ocean shore recede before a tsunami, the wave just building and building,the helplessness you feel in the knowledge that there is nothing you can do to stop it or save yourself. He , she concludes, is not a man built for peace . Not like her Sasuke who for all his large amounts of chakra carries a warmth and steadiness like summer grass beneath bare feet and a mother's hug. Peace, Karin thinks, could suit him if he gave it a chance.

She almost, for a moment, feels guilty about her plans to send him back to Orochimaru. Peace does not last in Sound. It does not belong.

When she returns to herself, she is still standing. Sasuke has come closer as if to catch her and she tries not to blush. How thoughtful! "That way," she points. "He's two days' journey west and hiding." She turns to him and her grin turns vicious. "He's hiding in a village of sorts, but I doubt that'll be a problem."

He remains impassive and unimpressed, but there is a sparkle in his eye. Maybe peace wouldn't suit someone so in love with battle , she rethinks. But that is what makes them similar. She loves to watch. He loves to fight. It helps that she loves to watch him fight. It is only then you really see strength.

"No, it won't." He says finally, shrugging on his jacket and pack. The cave they'd made camp in had been kind to them. She will remember it fondly as they set off.

On their way, they run into another group of bandits. They are oddly persistent in these parts. After a few moments of battle, she finds herself almost bored. She wants to see Sasuke fight, really fight. These opponents are weak and so they are useless. So while Sasuke is beautiful in his grace, there is no need for him to showcase his power. Yes, she thinks, how boring.

At last, he activates his Sharingan, perhaps annoyed and bored himself. The leader of the bandits gasps. "Impossible," he roars, charging forward. Of the group, he has the most skill. But Sasuke dodges his sword with an insulting amount of ease. "Sasuke Uchiha has returned to Konoha. Where have you gained your eyes?"

What , Karin thinks, frowning.

Sasuke pauses, beating another bandit to their knees. If he had the mind for it, the field would smell like blood at this point. For now it smells like fall. "How do you know that?"

The leader laughs, "Everyone is smart enough to keep tabs on the Uchiha Murderer," he sneers. "People say he's returning to Konoha so he can finally finish the deed."

Sasuke cuts him down then. His speed is incredible. It takes a few moments for her to register what the leader had said before he died and then to realize he has died. As the other bandits run with their tails between their legs, she turns to Sasuke, "What did he mean?" Clearly he hasn't returned to Konoha. He is here.

"Don't think of it," Sasuke orders, leaving no room for question. "It doesn't concern us now."

She frowns, but lets it go. She'll find out eventually. After all, information gathering is what she is good for.)

...

The walk through the compound is almost pleasant. Almost okay. Kakashi-sensei is graceful enough to not say anything, to let the silence sit until they get to the main house. Uchiha's house. It is humble. A sort of traditional style home like his grandmother's. But bigger. Different from the city-like houses and western-ish style houses that dot the other suburbs of Konoha. When Sasuke opens the door, it falls off its hinges, crumbles, and kicks up a cloud of dust.

For a moment, he thinks about taking off his shoes. Instead he forges onwards, climbs up the three steps and enters the house. Tries not to panic the minute he sees the living room. Kakashi-sensei offers him a steadying hand on the shoulder and Sasuke takes another deep breath. "I…"

"I'll wait here," Kakashi-sensei says.

Sasuke nods. Thank you .

The house is eerily quiet. He doesn't know why he's surprised. Doesn't know what he expected. There are leaves on the floor, dust in the corners. The stairs creak as he climbs. The wood groans when he walks. The house shows signs of its age and its abandonment in the scruffs on the floor and the water stains on the wall. It is a ruin as much as it is a shrine. When he comes to the first room, he is surprised to see it was the room of a child's. Uchihas? Probably . There are toys, old wooden ones and marbles in the corners. The bed is covered in leaves and twigs. There are probably animals living in the vanity.

It holds no real impact on him. Unlike the rest of the house, it is easy to draw the line, to see where their upbringings differed. His childhood room had been vibrant, filled with soft toys instead of wooden ones, and many, many drawings on the walls. This room looks too… barren to be his. Too empty of things children should have and he has a feeling it is not simply because much must have been lost to time. It is the first time he wonders how their parents might have differed beyond the obvious.

The next room is a study and he makes a note to come back to it later. It must have been Uchiha's father's. If it hadn't been scrubbed clean it might hold some answers for him. But he isn't here for that.

The next is his parents. He doesn't even open the door.

Across from the master bedroom is another bedroom. It doesn't look any different from the others on the outside, but it is the last room on the second floor. It must be Itachi's. The first thing he notices is there is a futon on the floor instead of the western style bed in Uchiha's childhood room. He doesn't know why this strikes him as wrong. And he can't stop his feet from carrying him forward to the edge of the bed. The room is just as worn as the others. There is a smell of must and mildew. But there are no leaves in this room. The single window is closed. The glass is not broken. There is no struggle or signs of battle. There hasn't been anything like that in the entire house. It is as if one day everyone got up and simply walked away.

A complete ghost town.

"And it doesn't even have the ghosts," Sasuke jokes, under his breath as he toes at the sheets of the futon. His toe lightly snags at a loose board and he hums, curious. Pushing away the futon and trying not to cough from the dust that gets picked up, he's surprised to see not a floorboard loosened with time, but a piece of wood with a small hole that someone could stick a finger in to use to pick up. Itachi… Sasuke's Itachi had always been a fan of hiding places. Hollowed out books hiding leftover Halloween candy to drawers with false bottoms to hide his guilty pleasure books. Sasuke had always had fun as a child hunting those hiding places out and surprising Itachi with his goods. Itachi would pretend to get furious before sharing whatever Sasuke found. The memories make him smile.

He pops open the floorboard. Inside is a small wooden box with an engraved golden Uchiha fan on the top. He takes care to pick it up. It is dusty and worn. But not just from time. This box has been handled often. Perhaps an antique? A family heirloom? Opening up the top, he's surprised to see not food or books, but pictures. Hundreds of well loved photographs. Photographs of… him. Uchiha. Each one labeled on the back. First day of school. First steps. First words. At an ice cream parlor. At a dango shop.

He's not surprised when the tears start to fall. He's not surprised when his vision starts to blur. He doesn't know how long he sits there, sorting through pictures. Finding photos of his parents, of his cousins. Of his aunts and uncles arguing and laughing and playing around the compound. But mostly of Uchiha. Uchiha sitting on the back porch and Uchiha laughing up at the camera. At some point Kakashi-sensei finds him, puts a hand on his shoulder and doesn't say anything when he turns around to cry into his chest, sobs choked by fabric.

When they return home, Sasuke takes the box with him.

...

That night, Kakashi tells him as he finishes cleaning the living room that Team Seven is coming over for dinner. This consists of more people than he expects.

Yamato-sensei is a hard man. You can see it in his face and the way he carries himself, all straight-backed and controlled. In a way he reminds Sasuke of his grandfather. Old and wrinkled and with smile lines along his face. But who'd fought a war on the losing side. He had a stance like that, a control like that. Yamato-sensei is a military man, more so than Sakura or Naruto, more so than even Kakashi. Sasuke could see it in his chakra the way it laid smooth along his skin like a shield and in its color: military green.

Sai… Well now it looks like Sasuke knows who his ANBU guard is and Sasuke doesn't know if he feels safer or not. Sai has the same wild, red chakra that is always just barely restrained like he has to fight for the control Yamato-sensei handles with such ease. But his outwards appearance is blank. If Sasuke could not see his chakra, he would have to wonder if the other boy felt anything at all. It doesn't help that his smile is terrifying. Of course, Sasuke has better sense than to say this. Instead, he asks as he finishes off his second shot of sake, "Is it boring following me around all the time?"

Sai smiles that same fake smile. "I don't know what you mean, Traitor." And then he picks up his drink and joins Sakura on the couch. Sasuke tries not to take offense to the name. After all, he called Sakura ugly even though she obviously isn't. Perhaps he means it as a joke. After all… his chakra hadn't felt vicious. Not like Kabuto's.

Turning to Kakashi-sensei, he asks, "Should I have… not said that?"

Kakashi just sighs and hands him a ceramic bowl full of spicy beef. Right, then.

Naruto is the last to arrive. By then, Sasuke has started drinking in earnest. He expected sake; he finds he loves gin. The only problem is that they clearly expect him to be better at drinking then he is . Genin were allowed to drink , he remembers. But Uchiha had never picked up a glass when Sasuke was around and his mother would skin him alive if she knew he was on his third glass of gin. His father would kill him for drinking without eating. At least it was watered down, of course, because he's not an idiot. But… it tastes really good.

With Naruto is an older, white-haired man who looks oddly familiar, but it is only when he sees him smile that Sasuke realizes. "You're the man from Orochimaru's picture," he blurts out before the older man can properly introduce himself and suddenly the room gets two degrees colder. Clearly, Sasuke mourns, his people skills have decreased in the last two years. He blames it on the alcohol.

Sakura sighs so hard it sounds like a groan.

"Sorry," Sasuke cuts in before the older man could say anything, slightly panicking, "I forgot. Not supposed to eh… um…" He groans. "Oh my god… I am so bad at this."

Kakashi looks amused. At least someone is enjoying this.

The older man stares at him and even Yamato has come towards their little group by the door. Curious, maybe?

Naruto chuckles awkwardly, "Sasuke, this is Ero-sensei. We traveled together while you were… er…away."

"Is this one of those moments where the participants attempt to ignore the 'elephant in the room?'" Sai asks rather suddenly, "In which case, I do not understand the social benefits. It would be easier to simply address that Sasuke ran away to live with one of the worst traitors of the village. At least then we could move away from the door."

For some reason, this works.

Dinner is delicious because Sasuke had helped cook it and he announces it without shame when Sakura asks Kakashi how he learnt to cook. Naruto backs him. Ero-sensei (and he still needs to find out his name because Sasuke knows Ero means pervert and he doesn't want to know how he got that name) says something along the lines of him making a good wife. "Orochimaru taught me," he says after a moment, taking a sip of his gin. "Because the cook got sick... or killed, I don't know… and Kabuto can't cook. U-" He catches himself before he mentions Uchiha. Looking up from his plate, everyone is staring at him with various degrees of shock and awe. Except for Sai who doesn't seem to react to anything.

"What was your time like in Sound?" No one has asked Sasuke this before. Perhaps Naruto is the only one brave enough to ask.

Sasuke thinks about this question for a moment, mulling it over. The depression and the confusion. The starvation in the beginning only to be followed by the stress of needing answers. The backbreaking work, long hours, and training. The darkness. The way he was escorted everywhere even if he didn't want to go. Here he could walk around and Sai was kind enough to give him the idea of privacy. But… Sound had given him Uchiha, had taught him how to fight. Even Orochimaru, in the end, had been kind, as kind as he could be. So he says, "Terrible," with a smile and goes back to eating.

...

(Naruto corners Kakashi in the kitchen as Sakura and Sasuke say 'good night' to Ero-sensei. Sai and Yamato had left earlier before dessert, probably off to report to Obaa-chan. Not that they'd learned much. Even drunk, Sasuke had danced around their questions with frightening ease. "Did you plan that?"

Kakashi doesn't say anything, just shrugs, and finishes rinsing the last cup. In the other room, Sakura is laughing and he can hear Sasuke's slur but can't make out the words. "If I did," Kakashi-sensei says in an oddly monotone voice, "it didn't go very well, now did it?"

Naruto thinks he understands.

Together they finish putting away the remainder of dinner: home-cooked spicy beef, cardamom rice, and pickled vegetables. Apparently, Orochimaru had taught Sasuke how to cook. Or maybe Sasuke had said that just because. You never really knew what someone will say when drunk. Finally, Naruto says, "If Obaa-chan wants information so bad, why doesn't she just send him to T&I." Not that Naruto would allow it. It was too easy for accidents to happen with the Council wanting Sasuke… if not dead then at least out of the way. He hopes Konoha is better than that, but he's traveled with Ero-sensei for two years and he's seen the world. He likes to think he isn't as naïve as he'd been as a child.

"Yamanaka Inokchi is still in the hospital with recovering chakra deprivation." When Naruto says nothing, Kakashi adds, "He did it on instinct. No hand seals. One second he's cooperating and the next Yamanaka-san is screaming… T&I won't work."

"The Council wants Sasuke locked up," Naruto says because Kakashi-sensei can help. Sakura had kept her ears open in the past week, but there was little change. The Council was stubborn. Obaa-chan was stubborn. And Sasuke wasn't making life easy for himself with all the secrecy, Naruto thought, a little bitter. Anyone with eyes knew he was hiding something.

Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem surprised by this. But then again, he's reporting to Obaa-chan, isn't he? That's why he'd held the party. That's why he'd invited that asshole, Sai, and Yamato-sensei so they could collaborate. But he's not really giving them anything , Naruto concludes. Team Seven protects their own, after all. "Yes, they are."

"What should we do?"

In the other room, Sakura has started complaining of cheating as Sasuke cheers far too loudly. Alcohol has a strange effect on his friend. Kakashi-sensei sighs. "Be smart, Naruto," he warns. "I'll keep you informed if I can."

Naruto accepts. There isn't much more he can ask for. Not just yet. )

* * *

A/N: So I totally jinxed it! I bragged that I hadn't missed a week and then BOOM a whole month goes by. But seriously, this chapter gave me some serious writers block. Three versions of this chapter were created and even now there are some sections I removed because it just wasn't flowing right. Next chapter might be extra long because of it.

Karin continues to be a fav to write. I hope I'm capturing her creep levels properly. And finally more Naruto! I didn't forget about you, my beautiful ball of yellow sunshine.

Please let me know what you think. I always appreciate your feedback.

Shout out to my beta: TheMaelStromWrites


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